Whilst compiling a page on the breweries
of the Czech Republic, I realised that I had a problem with the section
on beer styles. What types of beer do they brew: Pils, Helles, Märzen? Do
they brew similar types of lager to those of Bavaria?

The answers that I came up with weren't quite the ones I had expected. Not
only are Czech lagers firmly rooted in the classic styles, they give a unique
insight into the evolution of these beers through the 20th century. Not
being the selfish type, I would like to share with you some of the information
that I unearthed.

I won't pretend that this stuff will be of much interest to the casual reader.
But hopefully my fellow obsessives will find it informative.

Bottom-fementing styles circa 1900
There is a fascinating chapter in "American Handy Book of Brewing
, Malting and Auxiliary Trades" (Wahl & Henius, Chicago
1902) on Thick Mash Beers in Germany and Austria (P.780-792).
It's the best explanation I've read of early lager styles. It's pretty precise
about the specifications of the beers, even down to the hopping rates. As
the book is designed as a practical manual for brewers, it must bear at
least some resemblance to reality.

I'll paraphrase now what it says about the different types of continental
lager beer:

type

colour

subtype

gravity Balling

hops/ hl

comments

flavour

Bohemian beer:

"light-yellow to greenish-yellow"

Abzug/Schenk

10.5°

300, 350, to 400 g

usually kräusened as Hefenbier - I suppose a sort of
cask-conditioned version. It was kräusened as racked into the trade
package and needed time to settle in the public house before serving.

"the taste is vinous , dry, somewhat sharp; instead
of the malt taste, the bitter taste of the hops predominates."
The kräusened beer didn't need to be kept as cold during lagering

Beer was bunged to increase the amount of dissolved CO2 to that
desired. It usually ocurred immediately before the beer was due
to be sold.

The darker beers were not - as is often the case today - brewed
from a grist of pilsner malt plus a small amount of highly-coloured
malt. Vienna beers were brewed from 100% vienna malt, Munich beers
from 100% dark Münchner malt. The Bohemian beers were - surprise,
surprise - made from 100% pilsner malt.

The principal differences between the types in terms of colour
and degree of attenuation derived from the characteristics of
the different kinds of malt.

Here are some Czech, Viennese and Bavarian beers analysed around this time
(Wahl & Henius, p. 823-830):

You're probably wondering (if you haven't already packed up and gone home)
why I have bothered you with all this historical gumph. Because without
this knowledge, modern Czech beer styles won't make a great deal of sense.
Unless - as may well be the case - you're brighter than me.

How can I say this without seeming a total prat? Until a terrifyingly recent
date, I had thought of Czech beer as without beer styles in the classic
sense. They don't call their beers Pils or Münchner or Export; they just
brew 11, 12, 13 and 14° Plato beer either pale, dark or amber. How wrong
could I have been.....

Stumbling across a pre-WW II Czech beer label prompted a rethink. A very
simple label, printed in orangey-brown. In the centre "14%" and
underneath "Märzen". Of course - Czech 14% amber beers were in
the Märzen style! On closer inspection, 13% pale lagers are in the Spezial
style; suddenly these Bohemian beers were fitting in very nicely with the
lagers from Bavaria, Austria
and Switzerland.

It's like a physicist stumbling upon an unified field theory - suddenly
the whole universe can be described in one sentence. Or perhaps a 19th century
chemist filling in the grid of the periodic table. Which is exactly what
I'll do now.

The illuminating quality of Czech lagers is not a matter of chance. The
survival of so many of the early lager types in Bohemia make it far easier
to spot patterns. Here's my grid:

Country

8%

10%

11%

12%

13%

14%

15%

16%

18%

Czech Republic

Výèepní

Výèepní

Le¾ák

Le¾ák

Speciální

Speciální/Exportní

y

y

y

Výèepní

Výèepní

Le¾ák

Le¾ák

Speciální

Speciální/Märzen

y

y

y

Výèepní

Výèepní

Le¾ák

Le¾ák

Speciální

Speciální

y

y

y

Bavaria

x

x

Pils

Helles

Spezial

Oktoberfest

x

Bock

Doppelbock

x

x

x

Lagerbier?

Märzen

x

Bock

Doppelbock

x

x

x

Dunkles

märzen/export

x

Bock

Doppelbock

Austria

x

x

Helles/Pils

Märzen

Spezial

x

Bock

x

x

Lager

Bernstein

Granit

Märzen

x

Bock

x

x

Export

Spezial

x

Bock

Doppelbock

Switzerland

x

x

Helles

Spezial

Starkbier

Bock

x

x

x

Starkbier

Bock

x

x

x

Dunkles

Spezial

Bock

x

Notes:x - no beer brewed of this typey - beer of this type brewed, but has no standard name
- the three different coloured rows represent pale, amber and dark
lagers

I won't insult your intelligence - you can see that far more of the Czech
boxes are occupied. Vienna lagers aren't dead: they've just moved over the
border. No country produces such a range of amber (polotmavé pivo) and dark
lagers (tmavé pivo) as the Czech Republic. I can't quite understand why
no-one has twigged this yet.

Modern Lagers
Below is a randomish selection of breweries from lager's heartland and some
of their products. The variation in strength and colour is wider than a
visit to the supermarket might lead you to believe.

Lager is very much the spotty git with bad teeth at the beer geek ball.
No-one wants to hang out with it. That would look so uncool. Maybe it's
time to look closer.